I’ve written about eating out and about with a baby before, but not about eating out and holidaying with a baby. It’s something I’m asked about a lot, and so I thought I’d put together this blog with tips on how to feed your baby when travelling.
Top Tips For Feeding Your Baby On Holiday
Before I go into a little more detail about our own family holidays, I wanted to share some of the things I’ve found helpful from our experiences. Here are my top tips for food on holiday with a baby:
Try to time it right
If at all possible, it can help to try and get the timing right when taking your baby on holiday. Travelling either before they’ve started solids, or once they’re fairly established on solid foods can help.
Of course, this isn’t always possible and if you’re travelling with a weaning baby in the early stages – that’s absolutely fine. Just expect to be a little more loose with routine and just make the most out of what you can offer them whilst you’re there. Focus on getting back into routine when you’re back and enjoy the time away!
Be prepared
Call or email ahead to the places you’re staying if you’re unsure about what will be on offer. You’ll be able to get a better idea of what’s around in the local area and what you might need to bring with you.
I also think it’s a good idea to call the airline to make sure you know what the regulations are around food and liquids you can take on board when travelling with a baby. If you’re travelling long-haul, ask about what food will be available for your baby on the plane. If you’re not paying for a baby’s ticket, more than likely they may just be offered a baby food jar
Pack smartly
Try not to overpack – pack what you need for the journey, and a little extra just in case, but lots of things will be available when you get there. Remember that most places will have things like nappies, wipes, formula milk (if needed), bibs etc, so you’ll likely be able to find what you need!
Pack some simple snacks/meals for the plane, especially if it’s a long journey! Some of my favourite snacks to pack on the plane are:
Take a few staples that you know your little one REALLY loves for when you’re there too. In our case, I usually pack Weetabix, porridge and s
Baby food pouches and some shop bought snacks can also be a really convenient option to take as a back-up and for when you don’t have access to other foods.
Stock up when you get there!
If you’re staying at a villa or an air B and B, stock up at a supermarket when you get there and make sure you’ve got plenty of staples for the week that you think your little one will likely eat. Breadsticks, potatoes, pasta, oats, tinned tomatoes, fresh fruits and veggies as well as some beans, lentils, fish, eggs and meat are usually widely available and things that we’ll get to serve at a holiday house.
Eating out
If you’re planning to eat out, try to research a little for places that will likely have food your baby can have, or bring something with you if necessary!
I’ve always found holidays to be a great opportunity for sharing meals and for really embracing the benefits of family style meals. Even if they’re not eating a lot, it’s a great way to introduce them to plenty of variety and enjoy the social aspect of eating too. Sharing meals helps to avoid food going to waste, as you can offer baby foods that you’re eating, and anything they don’t want will still get eaten!
We’ve often order mains for us adulta (that we know the kids might also like) and then sometimes just order multiple sides and all share everything at the table. It really works for us.
Don’t be afraid to ask – people are often nervous to ask questions, but when it comes to babies it’s important to do so. Try to learn a few key words from the language before you go so you can ask some simple questions or give them some important info (no nuts, no salt, small portions etc). I find most places are super accommodating when it comes to feeding babies and have never had a problem with asking for no salt to be added!
Most importantly….Try to relax and enjoy it
Remember that your little one’s diet isn’t going to be perfect, but that this is OK and that it’s not going to affect them if they don’t have a perfectly balanced plate for a few meals or even weeks – at a time.at a time.Try to think about the benefits kids get from being away with you, relaxing, playing, being outside and experiencing new things – they are learning and growing through this and that’s a wonderful thing. .
Also remember that it’s perfectly normal for them to be a little less interested in food whilst you’re away. Everything is new for them (including the food and flavours), it may be quite hot, there will be plenty of distractions and your routine is likely to be a little off – all of which can really impact their appetite (see the graphic below). If food isn’t high on their agenda, it’s OK and completely understandable And that’s totally ok! Try to go with the flow as much as possible and offer them plenty of opportunities to eat, and don’t worry if they don’t seem to be as bothered!
Focus on hydration!
When it comes to water for babies, if you’re in an environment where you’re not meant to drink the water yourself (check https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/countries for more info), it’s best not to give this to babies either.
Ideally babies will get most of their fluids from breast or formula milk but if you do need to rely on other sources of fluid (especially in hot weather), you might want to look to some bottled waters that are “baby-friendly” for children over 6 months of age. These are bottled waters that either have a baby stamp on them or ones that have less than 200 milligrams (mg) a litre of sodium (also written as Na) and less than 250mg a litre of sulphate (also written as SO4). Over 6 months, the water does not need to boiled, unless you are using it to make formula – it should always be boiled when making up a formula bottle.
For more on water for babies, check this blog.
If you are travelling somewhere hot, try to focus on hydrating foods (see graphic below)! This can help to make sure they stay hydrated, even if they don’t drink a lot!
Our Travels As a Family
We’ve been lucky enough to travel to lots of places as a family, and we learnt a lot from each trip about what worked. So here I wanted to share a bit more about some of our trips and how we managed food! These trips were from when Raffy was a lot younger, before Ada was born – so it’s been a good few years now, but the tips all still stand! These are a real mix of holiday types and destinations, so I thought I’d highlight these for anyone interested in travelling with a baby:
- Dominican Republic to stay in a resort when Raffy was 5 months old
- Greece on a holiday with Friends when Raffy was 1 year old
- Italy for 2 weeks travelling from one side of Italy to another when Raffy was 16 months old
- Hong Kong staying with Family for 10 days and Bali for 6 days travelling from place to place when Raffy was 19 months old
Dominican Republic
With our first holiday, we actually booked it with weaning Raffy in mind. I knew that I was going to be weaning him around 6 months and I didn’t want us to be away at the time when I was planning on starting him on solids.
I also was a bit wary about what foods he would be exposed to when we were there and therefore we took the easy choice and I breastfed Raffy solely the whole time we were abroad.
For anyone considering a holiday with a baby I would recommend thinking about it a bit more if you’re planning for when they are 6 months and trying to see if you can avoid doing it on the first month or so of weaning – just to help establish weaning in your/baby’s own environment. Also breastfeeding baby in the heat is an absolute saviour!
Greece
When Raffy was one, we went on a holiday with friends and one other child! Luckily we were in the Mediterranean and so we had access to plenty of foods that Raffy could eat. We also had a villa and so did a couple of big shops to get as much food as possible in the house. This was beneficial as it meant we were able to control the ingredients going into Raffy’s meals a little more than if we only had foods out and about. Lots of fresh veggies, cheese, bean salads, fresh fruits (largely watermelon) and fish were made in our villa for Raffy.
We also made sure we took plenty of porridge oats for Raffy to have whilst we were there, as we knew at least that way he would have something filling in the morning. He fell in love with watermelon on this holiday too and had a lot of watermelon day to day, which he wouldn’t normally at home.
At a local bakery we also found some fresh, giant breadsticks that were easy to take out and about to feed the kids on as we jumped in and out of the car. Those were a regular feature to Raffy’s diet for the whole week too! They would have had a little more salt in them than normal, but they gave him energy between meals and he enjoyed them. Serving them with a dip was ideal…but less easy when he ate them out of the house.
On the plane my friend introduced me to the idea of bringing your own pasta and porridge. She had made up some pasta for her son which she had in a cool bag with some veg and lentils and she offered him this on the plane. On the way back, she did the same with porridge oats and since then we have tended to take either porridge oats or pasta with us on plane journeys in a thermo style flask.
I breastfed Raffy at this point too and this made it easier with fluids – he mainly had my milk – but we did also offer him (as he was over 1) a little of the milk that they had onat the local supermarkets in porridge and cereals throughout the trip. As he was over one he was also able to have some of the bottled water (we didn’t risk the tap water at the villa, just in case). I choose low sodium options such as Evian.
Eating out I usually focused on “salads” for Raffy which included fish/egg and potatoes as these were readily available. There was also a lot of sharing our meals, which worked well, especially as there were so many of us on the trip. Raffy probably ate more bread/breadsticks and crackers than he did when we were at home, but that is OK when we are outside our normal environment.
Raffy actually really enjoyed the Greek food we ate when out and about, and there was always something on the menus he could have. Quite often their “salads” are really balanced with veggies, avocado, croutons, beans, eggs, potatoes. And if in doubt…watermelon!
Next up was possibly my favourite holiday of all time!
Travelling across Italy. We started at Piza and then stayed in Lucca, San Gimignano, Siena, Bagno Vignoni, Montipulciano, San Georgio, Spello and then finally Marche.
By now, Raffy really was used to his 3 meals a day and had quite an appetite, so our holiday often revolved around visiting towns and simply finding places to eat (which holiday doesn’t though??!)
Italy, as with Greece, was super easy for finding healthy, tasty and balanced meals for Raffy – especially as we ate out for pretty much every meal (until we reached Marche). The Italians love babies and made us so welcome – especially some who offered Raffy special bibs, highchairs, baby cutlery and baby bowls! Not something you get too often in the UK.
In all honesty though, we did struggle a few times, especially in the early days when we were finding our bearings and working out where to go to eat. Pizza, salty sauces and tuna salads that were 90% tuna (and a few spinach leaves) were all we could find. More bread than usual was definitely consumed too.
However, we soon were able to spot places that Raffy could eat in more easily by looking ahead on Trip Advisor once we got into the swing of our travels. He had omelettes, pasta dishes, bean salads, lentil soup, vegetable pastries – a real variety at multiple restaurants throughout Italy – what a lucky boy!
I took some of my banana bread recipe for the first few days, as well as some of my homemade oatcakes, which actually lasted a week. On top of this we also bought some French toast for him to snack on in between meals as we really needed something to keep him going.
A lot of the places we stayed at had fresh fruits available from the trees around and a couple of times we found supermarkets with “salad bars” where we were able to get couscous, tomato sauce, olives, beans and took them home for dinner. It worked out well but Raffy definitely had more salt and added fats than usual, although we managed (somehow) to keep the sugar fairly low too.
In Italy Raffy also had his first taste of ice cream – at the most incredible little parlour in Pienza. His flavour was fig and pistachio and he screamed for more almost immediately!!
Hong Kong and Bali
We spent lots of our travels in Hong Kong at my brother’s apartment – which had no tables and chairs – and so Raffy ate most of his meals on the floor. I would say that it was sometimes hard finding Raffy places to eat here, so we had to really pick out places that had good menus (luckily my brother knew his way around) and we did a lot of shared meals between the whole family. We relied a lot on foods my brother bought from a M&S in HK (extortionate prices though! Like, out of this worrrrrld!). Blueberries, yogurt, eggs, toast for breakfast and then oatcakes as a snack throughout the day (I brought some with me). We also relied heavily on breadsticks and bananas as on the go snacks for Raffy too.
Bali was a DREAM when it came to food – so much choice and such delicious food available, you could literally have pretty much anything. No troubles there!
Aeroplane food
As I mentioned above I tended to take foods with me for Raffy when flying. When we went long-haul with him, I was really surprised by the fact that he was only offered an apple puree and a chicken puree during the 13 hour flight. Apparently, you can pay more and ask for them to have a separate meal, but I didn’t know this at the time. That meant that Raffy had mainly our meals and also some snacks that we had brought from the airport (as well as the porridge I brought with us). also some snacks that we had brought from the airport (as well as the porridge I brought with us).
Take home tips for travelling with a baby
- Do your research & find out where you’re going as much as you can – call ahead and let them know the age of your baby, ask about the menus and if they do anything for special requests, if needed.
- Check with the air line what foods are being offered and take alternatives if these aren’t suitable. Porridge or cold pasta worked well for us along with fruit snacks and my oatcakes.
- Do a big shop once you’re there and make sure you have a list of foods that are current staples for your baby/toddler e.g. yogurt, oats, blueberries, pasta, couscous, tomatoes etc
- Don’t forget about sides – this worked so well for us. Ordering a main each and a couple of little sides that we would all share together
- Familiarise baby with the type of cuisine before you go? Our friend bought Raffy an Italian cookery set so he played with that a while and we also fed him spaghetti etc before we went to Italy.
- Find some places that work for you and stick to them when on holiday
- Don’t be afraid to ask at restaurants – perhaps read up on a few terms you need to know re baby food (no salt etc) and try using it as much as you can
- Take some staples from home. For us it was Weetabix, porridge oats, oatcakes
- Snacks are your friends on travelling holidays – you have to let nutrition standards slip somewhat here so baby having breadsticks, malt loaf, fruit bread etc more regularly than they would at home is absolutely fine
- Remember things aren’t going to be perfect, but that’s OK, you’re on holiday and a few days of baby having different foods/not balance/too many snacks or whatever is absolutely fine.
More tips from parents for travelling with kids:
Things to take with you –
- Portable high chair seat – can get material ones which strap into chairs
- Dry snacks for taking out and about
- Back up baby food pouches
- Stash some snacks for the return journey as well as the journey out there
- Bring mini bags of herbs and spices you use at home
- Take a jar of no added salt peanut butter
- Take cans of peas/sweetcorn/lentils from home that your little one is used to
- Take baby’s own plates/spoons/bibs from home for familiarity and convenience
- Take some disposable bibs
Tips for getting there –
- Have a click and collect order at the airport boots waiting for you, post security
- Oat muffins for flight
Tips for when you’re there –
- Make the most of buffet breakfast and take food for the day e.g fruits and breads
- Take Tupperware for baby’s foods, especially useful for filling up at hotel buffets and having with you for later in the day.
- Don’t feel you have to order from the kids menu – sharing adult meals/sides can work really well and can save waste!
- Order 3 or 4 sides and mash some together for younger babies
- Spread out paper towels on floor and highchair for quick clean up after the meal
I hope you’ve found this blog helpful, and I hope you enjoy your family holidays this year, wherever you’re off to!